Trap
by Higuchimon
Summary: Setting a trap is just as important in romance as it is in Duel Monsters.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Title:** Trap  
**Word Count:** 2,226  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Kaiba Seto x Jounouchi Katsuya  
**Notes:** This was written for the fourth season of the Yu-Gi-Oh Pairings Challenge. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** Setting a trap is just as important in romance as it is in Duel Monsters.

* * *

"Sir, there's someone who wants to see you." The quiet, competent voice of his secretary echoed over Kaiba Seto's intercom. The CEO glared down at it for a moment; he'd been reading over an actually _interesting_ business proposal from Otogi Ryuuji and he disliked being interrupted.

"Do they have an appointment?" He knew the answer was no anyway. He knew when all of his appointments were, and he had a completely free afternoon. He'd arranged for it himself.

"No, sir." His secretary replied, and then the voice of Jounouchi Katsuya came tinnily over the intercom.

"You'd better talk to me, you bastard!" All manner of threats were implied in the tone, and Kaiba could not help but smirk to himself. All things considered, talking to Jounouchi was a cross between amazingly boring and mildly interesting.

He leaned back in his chair and considered if it might be worth giving up a half hour or so to talk to the small fry. _I might as well._ If nothing else, it would get Jounouchi to go away once he'd ranted and raved and waved his arms about whatever was bothering him today. And he _had_ been expecting, or perhaps hoping, that he would show up sooner or later.

"Let him in." Kaiba debated having Security on standby, then decided that he could handle anything the blond tried himself. He settled the papers into a neat stack and set his favorite paperweight, the one Mokuba had given him for his twenty-first birthday shaped like a Blue Eyes White Dragon, on top of it. Jounouchi would no doubt be spewing a lot of hot air, and Kaiba didn't want this proposal to be scattered before he'd decided if he were going to shred it or support it.

The door slid open, and Jounouchi stalked in. Kaiba hadn't really seen him in person that often in the five years since they'd both graduated from Domino High School, and he noted the differences almost casually. He was a little taller, with more muscle on him, and dressed a little better, though not much. Kaiba suspected that might've been because he not only had a job that paid somewhat decently, but because most of what he earned wasn't going to support that deadbeat father of his anymore. Who was just dead now, not a deadbeat.

"I was getting work done," he said as the other came closer, eyes all but sparking with fury. "This had better be worth my time."

Jounouchi slammed his hands down on the desk and glared at him, attempting to intimidate. At least that was what Kaiba thought he was trying to do. Whatever it was, it wasn't working. "The rent."

Kaiba barely blinked an eye. "The what?" What on earth could he be talking about now? Kaiba was a busy businessman, he couldn't be expected to keep track of _everything_ that went on in Jounouchi's life. Just most of it.

The blond named an apartment building, and it took Kaiba a moment or two to make a connection. Yes, that was where he lived now. He'd moved in just a couple of weeks earlier. It was also one of the buildings that KaibaCorp owned in Domino City.

"How can you charge that much rent for that place?" Jounouchi all but snarled the words out. Kaiba let his lips twitch just the smallest bit. That was all Jounouchi wanted to talk to him about? He'd expected at least a mention of why he hadn't been included on the last tournament KaibaCorp had hosted. Even though, as always, he'd wound up in it anyway. Kaiba, frankly, never bothered inviting him anymore because he knew Jounouchi would arrive as long as Yuugi was there. Why waste the paper?

"Isn't this something you should be taking up with the manager?" Kaiba asked cooly. "That's what I pay him for."

"Not when you're the one pulling the strings." Jounouchi declared. Kaiba did not so much as bat an eye. Jounouchi was going to have to do better than this to get him to do anything about the rent. _Much_ better.

"What do you expect me to do? Change the price just for you?" The brunet asked, turning away slightly, as if he found the painting on the wall much more interesting than Jounouchi. Truth to be told, it was a very _pretty_ painting, one of several lovely lilies in a vase. He couldn't remember just why it was here; probably something to do with the redecorating he'd had a few months ago. At any rate, it provided him with something to look at that wasn't those furious brown eyes.

Which, all things considered, weren't _unpleasant_ to look at. He just didn't want Jounouchi thinking he was actually interested in something to do with him.

When the other only glared at him, fists clenched as if he would just love to start pounding on Kaiba himself, the CEO spoke again. "I know you can afford it. I certainly pay you enough."

"You don't…" Jounouch broke off and stared at him. Kaiba could feel the furious look burning into his skin and enjoyed it. There was something quite pleasant about being the entire focus of someone's attention, no matter how he acquired it. He was going to have to look into having this kind of visit happen more often. And he already had a plan in place to make certain that would happen. All that Jounouchi needed to do was say and do exactly what Kaiba expected him to do. "You do."

"I do many things." Kaiba told him. "One of them happens to be, not only own your apartment building, but own that little store you work at." Truth to be told, there was very little in Jounouchi's life that he didn't own, at least if he wanted to. He hadn't bothered with the grocery stores he frequented or the theaters he went to or anything petty like that. But the apartment building and the gaming store where he worked were both now under KaibaCorp ownership.

Kaiba did not stalk people. He simply kept tabs on Jounouchi, to make certain the small fry duelist didn't get above his proper place, and he also took all the proper precautions to make certain of that as well.

Stalking was for people who weren't him.

Jounouchi slammed his fists down on the desk again. Kaiba didn't take his attention off of the painting. "Did you want to talk about something else? Since I am most certainly not going to change your rent just because you don't like it." He doubted that Jounouchi would be persuasive enough to convince him otherwise. The blond's idea of talking someone into something generally involved his fists, and Kaiba had nothing to fear from _that_ quarter.

Really, Kaiba didn't want to believe that Jounouchi had come up there just for something _that_ petty. He couldn't have believed that Kaiba would do anything about it, even if he _couldn't_ have afforded it. That was just not something he could do. If you couldn't afford your rent, then take a different residence, where you could. It was that simple.

Without openly taking his gaze off of the painting, Kaiba glanced towards the other duelist. Jounouchi was still staring at him, too furious to speak and too furious to leave. There was a spark of something else in those honey-hued eyes as well, something that tugged the faintest hint of a smile from Kaiba's lips. It was the same sort of unnamed something, incompletely _acknowledged_ something that had led Kaiba to slowly seize hold of the reins of Jounouchi's life. He would have nothing in his life that he could not control to some extent.

And frankly, Jounouchi _was_ in his life. He couldn't pinpoint the time or place when it had happened, nor did that inability bother him too much. It was only a minor detail. The major detail was that this was something he wanted, and he had yet to see a reason why he couldn't have it. His private life was no one else's concern but his own and Mokuba's, and he knew quite well his brother would approve, once he'd finally managed to get Jounouchi where he wanted him to be.

"I can't think of anything else I'd want to talk to _you_ about, Kaiba." Jounouchi started to turn away, and Kaiba decided in the flash of a moment that he wasn't going to just let him get away like this.

"However, I could possibly see my way to offering you something of a raise in pay. It would require changing jobs, and actually working directly for me." That was what Kaiba wanted from Jounouchi, among other things. Being near him constantly would allow many, many opportunities.

Jounouchi turned back, his eyes narrowed and disbelieving. Kaiba had seen that look many times before. Seeing it up close, it was even more interesting. "What are you talking about?"

"I have an opening in the research and development department here at KaibaCorp. You are…something of a duelist." Kaiba refused to admit that he was much of one, even if he _was_ decent enough to score highly in the tournaments. Old habits died hard, after all. "I could use you there."

In more than one way, actually. But Jounouchi would find out about that all in due time. First, Kaiba had to get him to take the job.

He was certain that the blond would, of course. It had been designed for him almost perfectly. But Jounouchi was hesitating, and since he didn't know much about what the job required, he might even turn it down. Kaiba would not have that.

So, he reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled out not just an application, but a description of exactly what they were looking for to fill that empty place. "Read it over. Make up your own mind." The best traps, after all, were the ones that were not just baited with something to tempt the prey, but which did not even look like traps to start with. Jounouchi would see it as an attempt of Kaiba's to make him a guinea pig.

Which wasn't entirely untrue. There was, however, much more to it than just that. Being a guinea pig was only an amusing side effect.

Kaiba pushed the papers over towards Jounouchi and wasn't surprised at all when he, however reluctantly, took them up. The bait had been sniffed. Not yet taken but the prey was interested. He hadn't quite known when to expect Jounouchi to come for it, but he'd had the papers waiting for over a week. He hadn't gotten to where he was today by not planning for every eventuality, after all.

He turned his cool attention back to that painting. "There is a phone number on the application. Have the courtesy to at least call it once you've decided." That, in and of itself, was a special number. Every other KaibaCorp application, no matter what, had the number that connected one to Human Resources. _This_ application had a number on it which would connect directly to his own personal cell phone. Whenever Jounouchi made his decision, Kaiba would know about it at once.

"What've you got up your sleeve?" Jounouchi quite obviously wasn't trusting him. That was good. He had no intentions of being interested in a moron. Apparently aging was giving the blond a few more brains. That was even better. "And don't tell me your arm."

Someone else might've made a joke about it. Kaiba didn't bother. He simply turned towards Jounouchi ever so slightly. "If you'd like to keep holding on to your attitude from when we were sixteen, _do_ feel free. I, on the other hand, know how to move onward and find suitable material to accomplish what I need done. If you're too stubborn to accept a job that _is_ very suited to your needs, then that's your own decision and mistake, not mine."

He waved one hand quite regally. "You can go now." He spoke the words as if he had been the one who had called Jounouchi in for an interview. The sound of papers crinkling, more than likely as if they were being clenched between fists, amused him greatly. "Don't tear that. I can be certain KaibaCorp will not look favorably on an application that's too badly wrinkled."

Kaiba felt, more than saw, Jounouchi turn and stalk his way out of his office, moving like some type of offended wolf. Only when the door had closed behind him did the brunet allow himself to smirk in almost sadistic pleasure.

Bait sniffed a little more. On the verge of being taken. In fact, it _would_ be taken. He was absolutley certain of it.

He was so certain of it that he was not surprised in the slightest less than four days later when his cell phone rang, and he saw that it was Jounouchi's number. Nor was he surprised when he answered it, and the blond told him, very reluctantly, that he was taking the job. He had known all along, after all.

Once the call was done, he chuckled softly to himself. The bait was taken. This was turning out to be another successful venture of his.

He did, however, wonder slightly what Jounouchi's reaction to the benefits package of his new job would be. He looked forward to finding out as soon as possible. Jounouchi had no idea of what he was getting himself into. And Kaiba, frankly, looked forward even more to showing him, in every way imaginable.

**The End**


End file.
